The Scoop»Economic Impact of Removing Unauthorized Immigrants from Nevada

Economic Impact of Removing Unauthorized Immigrants from Nevada

Nevada would lose $9.7 billion in economic activity and about 45,533 jobs if all unauthorized immigrants were removed. This data is dynamic, assuming adequate time for market adjustments. The initial static impact would be much worse – to the tune of $30 billion in lost economic activity and 130,000 jobs.

Let’s be clear about the jobs situation. In short, there is a shortage of available labor for the types of low-skilled labor jobs that are typically filled by undocumented workers. The skill and education levels of American citizens are highly mismatched with the types of jobs that undocumented workers typically fill.

Loss of production due to void in workforce would severely impact several sectors, including construction and agriculture, food services, retail, and hotel/ lodging services.

On a whole, this would be devastating on the U.S. economy:

“[T]he immediate effect of eliminating the undocumented workforce would include an estimated $1.757 trillion in annual lost spending, $651.511 billion in annual lost output, and 8.1 million job losses. (These effects are annual figures based on the size of the US economy in 2008.) This measure is indicative of what could be expected in a situation characterized by adoption of an enforcement-only and removal policy with no effective mechanisms to avoid disruptions.”